Man, I've got so much to tell.
Our last practice session ended at 5pm.. There was quite a scare when I realized that no one had requested to use the college's projector for tonight's sideshow! Frantically, I sent messages to all the other houses, asking whether anyone was using a projector too.. I waited for 15 minutes before I heard a favourable reply.. Topaz, the first house to perform, would be using the projector and they gladly allowed us to use it afterwards.. What a relief! It was the longest 15 minutes in my life..
Everyone was a nervous wreck before Bangsawan took place at 8pm.. There was a flurry of activities in the LT1 as we prepared for the main event.. The costume and make up people were busy prepping up our actors and actresses as the props people got everything ready..
Then it was time.. At 9.30pm, it was all systems go.. Well, not exactly.. With 2 minutes to go before the real thing, the projector blew up due to overheating, so E called me and gave me 2 options.. Either we get an impromptu performer on stage ASAP or we simply ask the emcees to give a 5-minute interval due to 'technical problems'.. So I ran, from one side of the hall to the other, to inform the emcees to announce our 'silent' interval.. It was so awkward listening to the emcees slowly reading out the synopsis of our play in total darkness.. Then miraculously the projector came back to life, so T went ahead with the sideshow - a short credit roll - but without any sound.. The manual speakers weren't working! The show went on anyway.. It was a nervous wait for K downstairs to give the signal to us in the control room..
So many problems crept up during the show.. I stopped the curtains from opening too soon three times so some adjustments had to be made.. Then T got scolded on our behalf (hehe.. sorry!) for switching on the control room's lights.. After that, we were about to proceed to Scene 2 involving the royal chamber when K told me that the scene's backdrop couldn't be hauled up! The backstage crew worked relentlessly to fix whatever it was that got broken and in the end, our backdrop became a bit crooked.. H, the Cultural Club's manager, informed me and K that the judges would be more lenient on our backdrop and they would give us more stage time to compensate the projector blow out.. Alhamdulillah!
There was a small mishap during Scene 3.. I and W were supposed to leave a scarf on stage for A to pick up, but they totally forgot!! The spotlight shone on him for quite a while as he scrambled around looking for the scarf.. In the end, he just left the stage anyway! :P
Then it was the war scene.. It was perfectly timed with the background sound! They did such a tremendous job.. Then there was also a slight delay coming into the last scene because it was so dark we couldn't see anything at all.. Thank God K was the one who gave me the signal..
But overall, our play was wonderful.. The sounds came all at the right times and the lights shone at all the right places.. The illuminating blue-light effect towards the end was mesmerizing to say the least.. The cast was superb and everybody played their part to perfection..
Our play was a complete success.. Need proof? Best props and backdrop, best costume, best script, best actor, best actress, best drama : Sapphire.
We practically shook the roof off the Great Hall with our screams of delight.. And guess what I did?
I cried.
Yup, with a bloody runny nose to boot.. Everybody was jumping up and down with joy and there I was, crying like a baby.. Gosh, it was so embarrassing, but I just couldn't contain myself.. I hugged each and every female in our house and we took so many group pictures, my face felt sore after all that smiling..
It's such a terrific feeling.. Thank you Allah.. If You hadn't laid on us such a burden that was Bangsawan 2005 - all the workload, stress and conflicts - we wouldn't have known how to appreciate victory.. And going through all that together just makes it all the sweeter :)
::
NHA at 5:45 PM ::
2 comments ::
